This exploratory study of developmental dyslexia in Italian children is the first phase of a cross-national investigation of dyslexia in Italy and the United States. Assessing children in differing linguistic environments provides an opportunity to evaluate the degree to which the phonetic regularity of a language influences the prevalence and types of dyslexia. Children in a linguistic environment where dyslexia is reportedly rare and where the language shows relatively consistent grapheme-phoneme correspondence (Italy) will be compared to children in a linguistic environment where dyslexia is common and where the language is comparatively irregular (the United States). This will permit analysis of the interaction between phonetic-linguistic factors and individual patterns of cognitive ability. Cognitive patterns will be examined by analyzing Italian children's performance on a battery of neuropsychological tests assessing both auditory-verbal and visual-spatial abilities. The performances of dyslexic children will be compared to the performances of children with adequate reading skills in order to determine the proportion of dyslexics whose reading disability is related to specific deficits in verbal or spatial processng. If the orthographic regularity of the Italian language makes reading less confusing, two characteristics should be evident in the patterns of dyslexia in Italian children: (1) The prevalence of dyslexia should be lower in Italy than in the United States; and (2) Of those Italian children with dyslexia, a relatively smaller proportion should show auditory-verbal deficits and a relatively larger proportion should exhibit visual-spatial disturbances, as compared to American children. This second finding should result if the more predictable Italian phonetic patterns effectively prevent mild auditory-verbal deficits from producing significant reading difficulties. Understanding the effects of linguistic factors on the prevalence and pattern of reading disabilities should have direct impact on clarifying the etiology of dyslexia and should have important implications for developing effective remediation for dyslexic children.